Rail fastener



Nov. 28, 1950 J. A. MOGREW 2,531,577

' RAIL FASTENER Filed March 5, 1945 Zzil Patented Nov. 28, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RAiL FASTENER John A. McGrew, Albany, N. 3!.

Application March 5, 1945, Serial No. 580,945

2Claims.. 1

The purpose of the present invention is to provide an improved rail supporting and securing device of the type which includes a resilient rail-engaging clip and a bolt for positively fastening the clip to the tie plate upon which the rail rests.

The resilient clip type of rail securing device has been found to be eminently practical in use, serving not only to hold a rail to be secured quite firmly 'to the tie plates upon which it rests, but I likewise acting to prevent creeping of the rail. The clips are readily attached by means of securing bolts, the heads of the securing bolts being lowermost and received within bolt head receiving recesses iormed in the underside of the tie .1

plate to which the securing device is applied. In my prior patent, No. 1,863,27 Lgranted June 12,

"1932 a clip securing bolt of the type described is fully disclosed, the tieplate having form-ed therein a T-shaped slot with downwardly and outwardly inclined bolt head seating surfaces and the bolt head having upwardly facing inclined surfaces to seat against the seating surfaces of the tie plate. In applying the clip the bolt head is lowered through the relatively large section of the slot provided in the tie plate and then is advanced toward the rail seating surface, thus being moved into the undercut or bolt head retaining portion of the bolt receiving slot.

The rail fastening device which comprises the subiectmatter of the present application is essentially similar to that disclosed in the aforementioned patent but, to facilitate assembly of the bolt with the tie plate, the interengaging portions of the bolt and tie plate are so formed that the bolt is moved into operative position by rotating the same about its longitudinal axis; The novel construction is advantageous also in that the bolt head is more firmly locked .in operative position it being impossible for the bolt to move'laterally of :the tie plate unless it is previously lowered,

thus preventing displacement of the bolt so long as'lthe spring clip with which it is associated exerts any upward pressure thereon. The .clipihas .an elongated tongue struck from a central por- "tion and this tongue is designed and intended to Figure l is a top plan view of the improved tie plate and rail fastener, a shortsection of the rail being shown in chain lines;

Figure 2 is a section on line 2- 2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a section on line *33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the rail clip;

Figure 5 is a bottom plan view showing a small portion of the underside of the tie plate, including the bolt head receiving recess;

Figure 6 is a View in perspective of the lower or head end of the bolt;

Figure '7 is a vertical transverse sectional view through the opening in the tie plate and similar to the right-hand portion of Figure 2, with the bolt and clip removed; and

Figure 8 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view taken substantially on line 33 of Figure 1 but looking in the opposite direction from that of the view shown in Figure 3, the bolt being removed.

The tie plate Ill is preferably of the type disclosed in my earlier patent, the rail seating surface thereof, indicated at H, being cambered longitudinally of the rail and suitable apertures for the reception of bolts or screws being provided. The rail [2 maybe secured in position, and preferably is so secured in position, by means of two springclips, one on each side, but-a. single spring clip may be employed on one side only and the other edge of the rail .base secured by spikes clip is indicated at 13, the rail securing bolt at 1 plate.

I l, and the nut threaded upon the upper end of the bolt at i 5. The bolt-head comprises two diametrically opposed outwardly extending wings I la the upper surfaces of each of these wings being frusto-conical and seated, when the bolt is in operative position, against thefrustwconical downwardly and outwardly flaring surface of the bolt head receiving recess Ilia.

Extending upwardly from the bolt head receiving recess illa is a slot itb which is rectangular as viewed from above and it is downwardly through this slot that the bolt head is assed when the device is being assembled to the tie The slot is, in plan, only slightly larger than the bolthead, the bolt head being elongated as shown but only as wide as the shank of the bolt. The slot Illb is slightly wider than the shank of the bolt, the arrangement being such that the bolt head may be passed directly through the slot when it is disposed as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 5. After the bolt head has been lowered through the slot (position I, Figure 5), the bolt is bodily shifted slightly, its axis moving from the point X in Figure 5 to the point Y, as indicated at position II in this same figure, the

The spring point Y being upon the axis of the frusto-conical surface of the bolt head receiving recess Illa.

The bolt is then rotated about its axis through an angle of 90 and drawn upwardly until its frusto-conical seating surfaces [4a ar in close engagement with the downwardly facing frustoconical surface of the recess Illa, as shown in final position III in Figure 2. The clip is then manipulated so that its tongue portion l3a extends downwardly through the slot 10b and into the bolt head receiving recess, engaging one of the two flat triangular surfaces Mb of the bolt head and thus preventing the bolt from rotating. Tension is then applied to the spring clip by tightening the nut 15 and the assembly is complete. Accidental loosening of the parts is not possible so long as the spring remains unbroken. The upward pressure of the spring on the head I5 of the bolt prevents that member from backing off and the bolt itself is prevented from rotating, as

previously stated, because of the action of the tongue I3a of the clip.

To remove the assembly it is necessary to loosen the nut I5, lift the clip so that the tongue 13a ma be withdrawn from the bolt head receiving recess 10a, then lower the bolt and rotate it 90 so that its head again occupies the position in which it is illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 5. The bolt head may then be drawn upwardly through the slot lllb.

The rail fastening device is thus of extremely simple construction being somewhat less likely to become accidentally displaced than those heretofore proposed.

Having thus described the invention, what is I.

claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a rail fastener, in combination, a tie plate having a rail seat thereon and rail clamping means for securing the rail to the tie plate; said clamping means comprising a clip having a substantially horizontal intermediate portion and legs bearing on the upper surfaces of the rail base and the tie plate respectively, an opening through the intermediate portion of the clip adjacent the edge of the rail seat and a slot extending through the tie plate beneath the opening in the clip, a bolt passing through said opening and slot, and a nut threaded on said bolt and bearing upon the intermediate portion of said clip whereby the clip is caused to bear firmly against said surfaces of the plate and rail to secure the rail to the plate, the slot through the tie plate being oblong with its longer dimension disposed at right angles to the rail, and a frusto-conical recess in with its longer dimension parallel to the rail, so that the mating of the conical surfaces of the bolt head and the recess prevents reverse shifting movement of the bolt back into the original portion of the slot.

2. In a rail fastener, in combination, a tie plate having a rail seat thereon and rail clamping means for securing the rail to the tie plate; said clamping means comprising a spring clip having a substantially horizontal intermediate portion and legs bearing on the upper surfaces of the rail base and the tie plate respectively, an opening through the intermediate portion of the spring clip adjacent the edge of the rail seat and a slot extending through the tie plate beneath the opening in the clip, a bolt passing through said opening and slot, and a nut threaded on said bolt and bearing upon the intermediate portion of said clip whereby the clip is caused to bear firmly against said surfaces of the plate and rail to secure the rail to the plate, the slot through the tie plate being oblong with its longer dimension disposed at right angles to the rail, and a frusto-conical recess in the underside of the tie plate having a diameter substantially equal to the longer dimension of the slot, which recess tapers upwardly and has its center offset laterally outwardly of the rail a short distance from the center of said oblong slot, the upper end of the recess terminating short of the upper surface of the tie plate, said bolt having a head flattened on opposite sides to substantially the width of the bolt shank and only slightly narrower than the shorter dimension of said slot, and having its upwardly facing surfaces frusto-conical and conforming smoothly to the downwardly facing surface of said recess; said construction and arrangement being such that the bolt head may be inserted downwardly through the slot with its longer dimension at right angles to the rail, shifted laterally in the direction away from the rail to a position concentric with the recess, and then rotated to a position with its longer dimension parallel to the rail, the clamping clip having a tongue projecting downwardly into the slot upon the side thereof away from the rail and extending into the frusto-conical recess to provide a straight fiat substantially vertical bearing surface for a flattened side of the bolt head and to prevent accidental rotation thereof.

JOHN A. McGREW.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,886,265 Andreianov Nov. 1, 1932 1,887,457 McGrew Nov. 8, 1932 2,056,632 Werner et al Oct. 6, 1936 2,127,430 Scholes Aug. 16, 1938 2,168,676 McGrew Aug. 8, 1939 2,203,624 Clarkson June 4, 1940 2,210,334 McGrew Aug. 6, 1940 

